Opinion
An opinion is a person's ideas and thoughts towards something. It is an assessment, judgment or evaluation of something. Sourced * Opinions derived from long experience are exceedingly valuable. ** Peter Barlow, Second report addressed to the directors and proprietors of the London and Birmingham Railway company, founded on an inspection of, and experiments made on the Liverpool and Manchester railway. B. Fellowes. p. 4. (1835) * Do not think of knocking out another person's brains because he differs in opinion from you. It would be as rational to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself ten years ago. ** James Burgh, The Dignity of Human Nature, Sect. V: Miscellaneous Thoughts on Prudence in Conversation (1754) * Sure 'tis an orthodox opinion, That grace is founded in dominion. ** Samuel Butler, Hudibras, Part I (1663-64), Canto III, line 1,173. * He that complies against his will Is of his own opinion still. ** Samuel Butler, Hudibras, Part III (1678), Canto III, line 547. * With books and money placed, for show Like nest eggs, to make clients lay, And for his false opinion pay. ** Samuel Butler, Hudibras, Part III (1678), Canto III, line 624. * He who would propagate an opinion must begin by making sure of his ground and holding it firmly. There is as little use in trying to breed from weak opinion as from other weak stock. ** Samuel Butler, The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, Part X - The Position of a HomoUnius Libri, The Art of Propagating Opinion (1912) * The more unpopular an opinion is, the more necessary is it that the holder should be somewhat punctilious in his observance of conventionalities generally, and that, if possible, he should get the reputation of being well-to-do in the world. ** Samuel Butler, The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, Part X - The Position of a HomoUnius Libri, The Art of Propagating Opinion (1912) * Many, if not most, good ideas die young - mainly from neglect on the part of the parents, but sometimes from over-fondness. Once well started, an opinion had better be left to shift for itself. ** Samuel Butler, The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, Part X - The Position of a HomoUnius Libri, The Art of Propagating Opinion (1912) * For most men (till by losing rendered sager) Will back their own opinions by a wager. ** Lord Byron, Beppo (1818), Stanza 27. * The world is governed much more by opinion than by laws. It is not the judgment of courts, but the moral judgment of individuals and masses of men, which is the wall of defense around property and life. ** William Ellery Channing, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 440. * A man's opinion on tramcars matters; his opinion on Botticelli matters; his opinion on all things does not matter. He may turn over and explore a million objects, but he must not find that strange object, the universe; for if he does he will have a religion, and be lost. Everything matters — except everything. ** G. K. Chesterton, Heretics, Chapter I : "Introductory Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy" (1905) * Every man speaks of public opinion, and means by public opinion, public opinion minus his opinion. ** G. K. Chesterton, Heretics, Chapter VIII "The Mildness of the Yellow Press" (1905) * In the United States, the majority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals, who are thus relieved from the necessity of forming opinions of their own. ** Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Volume II, Book One, Chapter II (1840) * Genuine belief ended with persecution. As soon as it was felt that to punish a man for maintaining an independent opinion was shocking and unjust, so soon a doubt had entered whether the faith established was unquestionably true. ** James Anthony Froude, The Nemesis of Faith, Fragments of Markham's notes (1849) * We are complex, and therefore, in our natural state, inconsistent, beings, and the opinion of this hour need not be the opinion of the next. ** James Anthony Froude, The Nemesis of Faith, Fragments of Markham's notes (1849) * I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all. ** Thomas Jefferson, letter to Francis Hopkinson (13 March 1789) * But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. ** Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1801) — The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Andrew A. Lipscomb, vol. 3, p. 319 (1904). * Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. ** Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1801) * It is very natural for young men to be vehement, acrimonious and severe. For as they seldom comprehend at once all the consequences of a position, or perceive the difficulties by which cooler and more experienced reasoners are restrained from confidence, they form their conclusions with great precipitance. Seeing nothing that can darken or embarrass the question, they expect to find their own opinion universally prevalent, and are inclined to impute uncertainty and hesitation to want of honesty, rather than of knowledge. ** Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, no. 121 (May 14, 1751) * Public opinion, or what passes for public opinion, is not invariably a moderating force in the jungle of politics. ** George F. Kennan, American Diplomacy, "World War I" (1951) * New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common. ** John Locke, Essay on the Human Understanding * This imputation of inconsistency is one to which every sound politician and every honest thinker must sooner or later subject himself. The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinion. ** James Russell Lowell, My Study Windows, chapter on Abraham Lincoln, p. 166 (1899) * Consider that everything is opinion, and opinion is in thy power. ** Marcus Aurelius, Meditations]], XII, 22 * Opinions cannot survive if one has no chance to fight for them. ** Thomas Mann, Der Zauberberg (The Magic Mountain, Ch. 6 (1924) * If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. ** John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859) * The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error. ** John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859) * To refuse a hearing to an opinion, because they are sure that it is false, is to assume that their certainty is the same thing as absolute certainty. All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility. Its condemnation may be allowed to rest on this common argument, not the worse for being common. ** John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859) * The greater the man, the less is he opinionative, he depends upon events and circumstances. ** Napoleon I of France, Political Aphorisms, Moral and Philosophical Thoughts, p. 146 (1848) * Eigene Meinungen. - Die erste Meinung, welche uns einfällt, wenn wir plötzlich über eine Sache befragt werden, ist gewöhnlich nicht unsere eigene, sondern nur die landläufige, unserer Kaste, Stellung, Abkunft zugehörige; die eigenen Meinungen schwimmen selten oben auf. ** Translation: Our own opinions. The first opinion that occurs to us when we are suddenly asked about a matter is usually not our own, but only the customary one, appropriate to our caste, position, or parentage; our own opinions seldom swim near the surface. ** Friedrich Nietzsche, Menschliches, Allzumenschliches (Human, All Too Human), Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / excerpt from aphorism 571, translated by Helen Zimmern (1878) * Es ist nicht der Kampf der Meinungen, welcher die Geschichte so gewaltthätig gemacht hat, sondern der Kampf des Glaubens an die Meinungen, das heisst der Ueberzeugungen. ** Translation: It is not the struggle of opinions that has made history so violent, but rather the struggle of belief in opinions, that is, the struggle of convictions. ** Friedrich Nietzsche, Menschliches, Allzumenschliches (Human, All Too Human), Section IX, "Man Alone with Himself" / excerpt from aphorism 630, translated by Helen Zimmern (1878) * In a Society in which there is no law, and in theory no compulsion, the only arbiter of behaviour is public opinion. But public opinion, because of the tremendous urge to conformity in gregarious animals, is less tolerant than any system of law. ** George Orwell, "Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver's Travels," Polemic (September/October 1946) - Full text online * For to err in opinion, though it be not the part of wise men, is at least human. ** Plutarch, Against Colotes * It is more true to say that our opinions depend upon our lives and habits than to say that our lives depend upon our opinions, which is only now and then true. ** Frederick William Robertson, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 440. * Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric. ** Bertrand Russell, Commandment 7 of "A Liberal Decalogue", from "The Best Answer to Fanaticism: Liberalism," The New York Times (1951-12-16); later printed in The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell (1969), vol. 3: 1944-1967, pp. 71-2 * Fact is not enough, opinion is too much. ** Todor Simeonov, 2008 (2009) * Private opinion creates public opinion. Public opinion overflows eventually into national behaviour and national behaviour, as things are arranged at present, can make or mar the world. That is why private opinion, and private behaviour, and private conversation are so terrifyingly important. ** Jan Struther, "The Weather of the World," A Pocketful of Pebbles, p. 341 (1946). * Quot homines tot sententiae: suo quoque mos. As many opinions as there are men; each a law to himself. ** Terence(c.195-159 BC), Phormio, 454 * No feats of heroism are needed to achieve the greatest and most important changes in the existence of humanity; neither the armament of millions of soldiers, nor the construction of new roads and machines, nor the arrangement of exhibitions, nor the organization of workmen's unions, nor revolutions, nor barricades, nor explosions, nor the perfection of aerial navigation; but a change in public opinion. And to accomplish this change no exertions of the mind are needed, nor the refutation of anything in existence, nor the invention of any extraordinary novelty; it is only needful that we should not succumb to the erroneous, already defunct, public opinion of the past, which governments have induced artificially; it is only needful that each individual should say what he really feels or thinks, or at least that he should not say what he does not think. ** Leo Tolstoy, Patriotism and Christianity, Ch. 17 (1896) * One free man will say with truth what he thinks and feels amongst thousands of men who by their acts and words attest exactly the opposite. It would seem that he who sincerely expressed his thought must remain alone, whereas it generally happens that every one else, or the majority at least, have been thinking and feeling the same things but without expressing them. And that which yesterday was the novel opinion of one man, to-day becomes the general opinion of the majority. And as soon as this opinion is established, immediately by imperceptible degrees, but beyond power of frustration, the conduct of mankind begins to alter. Whereas at present, every man, even, if free, asks himself, "What can I do alone against all this ocean of evil and deceit which overwhelms us? Why should I express my opinion? Why indeed possess one?" ** Leo Tolstoy, Patriotism and Christianity, Ch. 17 (1896) * I agree with no man's opinion. I have some of my own. ** Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Sons, ch. 12 * Loyalty to petrified opinions never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul in this world — and never will. ** Mark Twain, "Consistency" (5 December 1887). This quote is engraved on Twain's bust in the National Hall of Fame. * The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane. ** Mark Twain, Christian Science (1907) * We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking. And out of it we get an aggregation which we consider a boon. Its name is public opinion. It is held in reverence. Some think it the voice of God. ** Mark Twain, Europe and Elsewhere. Corn Pone Opinions (1925) * Inconsistencies of opinion, arising from changes of circumstances, are often justifiable. ** Daniel Webster, speech (July 25 and 27, 1846) * You deal in the raw material of opinion, and, if my convictions have any validity, opinion ultimately governs the world. ** Woodrow Wilson, address to the Associated Press (20 April 1915) * An opinion, right or wrong, can never constitute a moral offense, nor be in itself a moral obligation. It may be mistaken; it may involve an absurdity, or a contradiction. It is a truth; or it is an error: it can never be a crime or a virtue. ** Frances Wright, A Few Days in Athens, Vol. II (1822) ''Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations'' :Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 569-70. * Where an opinion is general, it is usually correct. ** Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, Chapter XI. * Facts are cheels that winna ding, An' downa be disputed. ** Robert Burns, A Dream. * Nor prints of Precedent for poore men's facts. ** George Chapman, Bussy d'Ambois, Act I, scene 1. * Omni autem in re consensio omnium gentium lex naturæ putanda est. ** But in every matter the consensus of opinion among all nations is to be regarded as the law of nature. ** Cicero, Tusc. Quæst, I, 13, 30. * Stiff in opinion, always in the wrong. ** John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, I, 545. * As the saying is, So many heades, so many wittes. ** Queen Elizabeth, Godly Meditacyon of the Christian Sowle (1548). * Intolerant only of intolerance. ** I. S. S. G. in Fraser's Magazine (Aug., 1863). Article on Mr. Buckle in the East. * It is not often that an opinion is worth expressing, which cannot take care of itself. ** Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Medical Essays, 211. * Denique non omnes eadem mirantur amantque. ** All men do not, in fine, admire or love the same thing. ** Horace, Epistles, II. 2. 58. * Monuments of the safety with which errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. ** Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address. March 4, 1801. * Dogmatism is puppyism come to its full growth. ** Douglas Jerrold, Man Made of Money. In the Wit and Opinions of Jerrold, p. 28. Attributed to Dean Mansel by Burgon in Lives of Twelve Good Men. * How long halt ye between two opinions? ** I Kings, XVIII. 21. * We hardly find any persons of good sense save those who agree with us. ** François de La Rochefoucauld, Maxims. 347. * The deep slumber of a decided opinion. ** Thoughts for the Cloister and Crowd, London (1835), p. 21. Quoted by Mill, Liberty. * Even opinion is of force enough to make itself to be espoused at the expense of life. ** Michel de Montaigne, Of Good and Evil, Chapter XL. * There never was in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs, or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity. ** Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Of the Resemblance of Children to their Fathers. * ''Il opine du bonnet comme un moine en Sorbonne. ** He adopts the opinion of others like a monk in the Sorbonne. ** Blaise Pascal, Lettres Provinciales, II. * La force est la reine du monde, et non pas l'opinion; mais l'opinion est celle qui use de la force. ** Force and not opinion is the queen of the world; but it is opinion that uses the force. ** Blaise Pascal, Pensées, Art, XXIV. 92. * Della opinione regina del mondo. ** Opinion is the queen of the world. ** Blaise Pascal quotes this as the title of an Italian work. * He (Cato) never gave his opinion in the Senate upon any other point whatever, without adding these words, "And, in my opinion Carthage should be destroyed." est Carthago." ** Plutarch, Life of Cato the Censor. * Some praise at morning what they blame at night, But always think the last opinion right. ** Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism (1709), Part II, line 230. * I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon. ** William Shakespeare, Macbeth (1605), Act I, scene 7, line 32. * Opinion's but a fool, that makes us scan The outward habit by the inward man. ** William Shakespeare, Pericles, Prince of Tyre (c. 1607-08), Act II, scene 2, line 56. * Facts are stubborn things. ** Tobias Smollett, Translation of Gil Blas, Book X, Chapter I. Elliot, Essay on Field Husbandry, p. 35. * "That was excellently observed," say I when I read a passage in another where his opinion agrees with mine. When we differ, then I pronounce him to be mistaken. ** Jonathan Swift, Thoughts an Various Subjects. * Je connais quelqu'un qui a plus d'esprit que Napoléon, que Voltaire, que tous les ministres présents et futurs: c'est l'opinion. ** I know where there is more wisdom than is found in Napoleon, Voltaire, or all the ministers present and to come—in public opinion. ** Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, in the Chamber of Peers (1821). * Quot homines, tot sententiæ; suus cuique mos. ** So many men, so many opinions; everyone has his own fancy. ** Terence, Phormio, II. 3, 14. Same idea in Gascoigne—Glass of Government. * Matters of fact, as Mr. Budgell somewhere observes, are very stubborn things. ** In copy of the will of Matthew Tindal, p. 23 (1733). Attributed * Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. ** Variant: Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts. *** Attributed to Bernard Baruch.—Distilled Wisdom, ed. Alfred A. Montapert, p. 145 (1964). *** Quoted in Robert Sobel's review of Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies edited by Mark C. Carnes. ** Variant: You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts. *** Quoted in Timothy J. Penny, Facts Are Facts, National Review September 4, 2003. *** Ellen Hume, Tabloids, Talk Radio and the Future of News, part 4 (TOC), 1995 cites this as something Moynihan said to a "1994 electoral opponent on WNBC in New York". See also * Freedom of speech External links Category:Belief cs:Názor de:Meinung et:Hinnangud eo:Opinio it:Opinione he:דעה lt:Nuomonė pl:Pogląd sk:Názor sl:Nazor